We’re all aware that strong human relationships are super-important to our health and wellbeing, but what about our intimate connection to where we live?

Having written about - and enthusiastically got under the skin of - all things Kentish Town, King’s Cross, Camden and other parts of London for many years, I know the joy of having a deep emotional investment in a sense of place.

But I’d never heard it expressed quite so succinctly as by Professor Rebecca Madgin of Glasgow University at the Creative Industries Property Summit at Kings Place on Wednesday.

She said our relationship with place is all too often taken for granted in the rush of daily life, but should almost certainly be seen as equally important to our wellbeing as the bonds with friends and family.

That really resonated.

Walking through cherished streets - often despite the chaos - or into beloved buildings, or looking out at crowded urban vistas, can bring on all the good feels, just like a fabulous piece of music, time in nature or a laugh with a loved one.

Whenever I question the wisdom (and that’s regularly) of pursuing this quest for a sustainable, thriving local media model based on culture, it is that love of the lived environment all around us, the humanity that supports and develops it, and the creativity that it generates, that draws me back in.

Emerging from the airconditioned bubble of the conference after 12 hours, and into the muggy summer evening of a teeming Granary Square and Coal Drops Yard, the uplift of the human-space relationship could not have been more apparent.

Seeing King’s Cross transform over the last two decades, with care for its history informing its future, makes me feel immensely proud of ALL who have carved it out - from the locomotive and narrowboat workers to the ravers, the planners and now those flocking to splash around, eat, work, love…whatever, in the embrace of this urban landscape.

It positively thrums from the interaction of people with their surroundings, and while property types are often more interested in the impact of buildings on the bottom line, if we can think of our neighbourhoods as part of the family, and treat them accordingly, the much desired ‘culture’ and ‘creativity’ developers and planners at the conference so crave will quite evidently just be hardwired in.

Community is a hellava thing when you feel it, too.

It was great to say hello to so many more of you in person at Alma Street Fair last weekend - and to have our biggest week for new signups yet. 👏🏽

A sense of belonging is only as strong as the people who nurture it, but it really feels like we can mobilise the enthusiasm of the growing Camdenist community (that’s you lot) for the good of all things local with the platform we now have here.

We’ve got more events, rewards and unexpected ways to discover new things coming up, all of which will help you to play a vital role in making our parts of this great city thrive, even through difficult times.

So, are you with us?

COLLABORATE

📊 The return of the 1-click Poll

FESTIVALS

🌞 Go Thai at the Canopy this weekend or find Warren Street’s giant rabbit

🍛 Cookery demos, zingy streetfood stalls, Thai puppet shows, music and dance performances and stunning costumes will all be part of the Thailand Showcase taking place at The Canopy Market in King’s Cross today until Sunday, 28th -30th June, free to enjoy.

🐰 It's the last chance to burrow into the striking bunny installation (pictured above) that encourages deeper exploration of Fitzrovia, as The London Festival of Architecturecomes to a close this Sunday 30th.

🎨 The Hampstead Summer Festival’s annual free Keats House Garden Party, featuring everything from birds of prey to ballet, will be making for a lovely Sunday afternoon if you fancy a stroll over the Heath.

🪁 Talking of the Heath on Sunday, from midday to 4pm the Kite Society of Great Britain are throwing a free festival of kite-flying on top of Parliament Hill, with Camden’s Young Music Makers playing on the bandstand afterwards.

🍽️ Bloomsbury’s Cordon Bleu Summer Festival sees cookery demos, tastings, workshops and loads more to devour all day this Sunday 30th.

🏳️‍🌈 Pride is London’s really big one this weekend, of course, on Saturday 29th from midday, when Soho, Piccadilly and surrounds go full throttle out-and-proud for the extended LGBTQI+ family. It’s a fairly mainstream affair these days, but a huge free day of entertainment nonetheless. We like the sound of Sunday’s post-Pride performance from Rebelle Voices (a choir that is solely for LGBTQ+ women, trans and non-binary people) and The Pink Singers (the longest running LGBT+ choir in Europe) belt out the choral numbers at Hawley Wharf market square from 6pm, part of Camden Market’s 50th anniversary festivities.

FOOD & DRINK

🍺 Beer, cheer and not quite here…

🍺 Following up on the story we ran back in January about all the vast new beer halls planned for the Camden slice of the West End, and with the Guinness microbrewery in Covent Garden still a long way off completion, Shaftesbury Avenue’s £7m new mega branch of Northern beer juggernaut Albert’s Schloss opens its doors next week. Expect a schnitzel and bratwurst-heavy food menu alongside plentiful draft pints, plus outlandish free cabaret shows every night of the week.

🍕 Local faves Pizza & Dumplings are supplying the food at all new al fresco party terrace Camden Courtyard, which kicks off on general election night (Thursday 4th) with a special VIP launch and then a series of top bookings for daytime bashes all summer long.

👀 Despite us spotting a big launch-like event we’d very much not got an invite to rocking at the new Mare Street Market on Lewis Cubitt Square last Thursday, this week’s glorious evening spent skipping about the area celebrating the summertime joy of the built environment (see above) revealed that it is actually still not actually open to the public. We await news of another grand opening imminently…

☕With the promise of established East London faves and self-identified ‘coffee roasters, pastrami curers, bakers and delicious sandwich-makers’, Trade Made, coming to Highgate West Hill imminently, the pitstop options for Swains Lane day trippers, pond swimmers and dog walkers are about to get even better over on the N6 side of the Heath. Opening date not yet confirmed.

STAGE

Performances, standup and exciting new playwrights

Stage highlights come to you each week in partnership with the TownSpot app: your ultimate guide to local events. Join over 1,000 locals discovering the joy of nearby happenings, combating loneliness, and feeling more at home than ever, with the support of Camden Council and Matthew James Estate Agents. Download TownSpot today.

MUSIC

🎶Glastonbury on the telly? Head out and hear live music live (you can watch the highlights when you get home)

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